considerations

• consult early in the development of the proposal the Code of Ethics for your professional association.
• researchers need to have their research plans reviewed by an Institutional Review Board of their university.
• prior to the study, researcher needs to obtain approval of an individual in authority to gain access to sites and to study participants. this involves writing a letter that specifies extent of time, potential impact and outcomes of research.
• select a site without vested interests. selecting a site in which one has an interest in outcomes is not a good idea. select site that will not raise these questions of power and influence the study.
• if one has a plan to publish their study, order of authorship is important to state at the beginning so that individuals who contribute to a research study receive their due contribution.
• identify a beneficial research problem.
• do not pressure participants into signing consent forms.
• disclose purpose of the study. explain the central intent and question of the study. specify the sponsorship of the study.
• respect norms and cultures of the respondents.
• respect the site. it involves prolong observation of the site and minimize disruption of the physical setting.
• both the researcher and participants should benefit from the research.
• avoid deceiving the participants. participants need to know that they are actively participating in the research study.
• avoid exploitation of the participants. this might be a small reward for participating, sharing the final research report, or involving them as collaborator.
• avoid collecting harmful information. anticipate the possibility of harmful, intimate information being disclosed during the data collection process.
• avoid going native. this means “taking sides” and only discussing the results that place the participants in a favorable light.
• avoid disclosing only positive results. researchers need to report the full range of findings.
• respect the privacy of the participants. the researchers will use pseudonyms or aliases for individuals or places to protect the identities of the participants.
• Data Saturation

  → refers to the point in the research process when no new information is discovered in data analysis, and this redundancy signals to researchers that data collection may cease.
• Data Saturation

  → mostly occurs after the 6th or 7th participant.